Celebrating International Women’s Day at Yutree #InspireInclusion – Laura Hancock, Managing Director

International Women’s Day is more than just a photo of your women. It is your culture, it is the views of your people, it is your statistics and it is your actions. In 2024, International Women’s Day (IWD) has a campaign theme of Inspire Inclusion. Yutree proactively work to develop and nurture a truly inclusive workplace.

My enduring crusade focuses on empowering women towards financial independence from an early age. With this, needs to come a rebalance of responsibility in the home, along with professional opportunities and support for young women at the start of, and throughout, their careers. The availability of role models, engagement with schools, apprenticeships and the availability of career opportunities, all feed into this.

How are we doing?

Women encounter workplace hurdles like juggling work and family, gender bias, underrepresentation, unequal pay, and male-dominated networking. These challenges impede career progress. Fortunately, recent strides in our profession include enhanced female representation, a spotlight on equality and inclusion, expanded flexible work options, and ongoing commitment from industry leaders to keep working at this. 

At Yutree we proudly embrace gender diversity, with women comprising a significant 70% of our workforce. 75% of those who started as an apprentice with Yutree, are female. Additionally, our commitment to equality extends to our leadership, with 40% of our board members and 40% of our management team being female. We celebrate the contributions of all of our talented women, with the support of our equally talented men.

Men play an important role in challenging bias, being role models, collaborating with women and supporting them to progress professionally. As Managing Director of Yutree, I am proud to say that I do not see discriminatory biases in our business. That is not to say that we do not have to work to maintain that status quo. Our culture and statistics speak volumes. More importantly, our women’s views echo that we are achieving what we set out to achieve when we set this business up.

The views of women at Yutree:

How do you think Yutree encourages women to progress at work?

“Being a woman – particularly a working mum – isn’t a barrier to success at Yutree. Many women in society feel like they can’t both be a mum and have a successful career, but I’ve never felt that here. What is particularly special about Yutree is the company’s willingness to be flexible for working parents.”

 

“I was particularly impressed with how flexible Yutree were with their approach to my return to work after the birth of my son. This has enabled me to continue to progress and grow in my insurance career whilst still being there for my young family.”

 

“With Yutree everyone is treated with equality and, importantly, equity. It is also about the right person for a role, not their working hours or location.”

 

“Providing the resources and support to grow and develop yourself further in this tough industry.”

 

Why do you enjoy working here?

“The people and the culture make working at Yutree a pleasure. I can’t imagine working anywhere else.”

 

“We’re all given a platform to speak freely, make suggestions and voice our opinions. We’re equals and we’re a family.”

 

“Every day is different. You get to see and deal with a whole cross section of people, from insurers to a wide variety of different businesses/customer, and help them to manage risk.”

 

Why do you work in insurance (a typically male dominated industry)?

“I think it’s mostly down to having a strong female role model like Laura, who was my manager at the very start of my career in insurance and has been a huge influence, ever since.”

 

“I work in insurance because I enjoy utilising my organisational skills I like problem solving, learning and growing relationships with my clients. I have been in the insurance industry for 22 years and I am always learning new things so its never boring!”

 

“I’ve had great women mentors who have been supportive and encouraging throughout my 15 years in insurance.”

 

What one piece of advice would you give to women starting out in insurance?

“Find a company with integrity and where the people truly care for others, and a happy career will come naturally.”

 

“Focus on you and what you want! There’s a new wave of people coming in to the industry, making it a much more diverse and welcoming place to be.”

 

“Know your self-worth and don’t be afraid to put yourself forward for things and don’t be scared of failure as its how you learn!”

 

“Be yourself, the best version of yourself, but be yourself & work hard, it will pay off.”

 

“Don’t let anything or anyone stop you from achieving your goals! You’re stronger than you think.”

 

“Believe in yourself – there is nothing that you can’t achieve. There are so many women in the sector that are testament to how far you can go if you want to, and who will champion you too.”